Soccer`s Maradona Fails Drug Test

ROME — Diego Maradona, one of soccer`s best-known stars, tested positive for drugs after a recent Italian league match, an official of his Naples team said Thursday.

Giorgio Perinetti, Napoli`s sporting director, said the Italian soccer federation had notified team president Corrado Ferlaino of the test results.

A banned substance was found in a urine sample taken from Maradona following a March 17 game, the Rome daily La Repubblica reported. It did not identify the substance.

A spokesman for the federation refused to comment on La Repubblica`s report, but did say that results of a second test will be available by the end of the week. A second test is given, in the presence of a doctor apppointed by the player or his club, when the postgame test is positive.

Maradona, a folk hero in Argentina where he is captain of the national team, could not be reached for comment.

Naples prosecutors have questioned him at least twice in connection with an investigation into a suspected drug trafficking-prostitution operation.

The Napoli team said in a statement that ``all of the Maradona affair is extremely complex`` and that it felt it was its duty to maintain ``absolute reserve.``

Soccer regulations provide for suspensions of from six months to two years for players who test positive.